In conventional refrigerators, an ice-making unit includes an ice machine for making pieces of ice; an ice bank for storing the pieces of ice made by the ice machine; a water tank for storing water supplied to the ice machine; and a pump for supplying water of the water tank to the ice machine.
However, there is a drawback that the conventional refrigerators lead to a reduction of refrigeration efficiency because the pump operates in an idle state even when there is no water in the water tank.